Abstract
Sriharikota is bestowed with one of the last remaining, largest and best preserved tracts of coastal tropical dry evergreen forests in India. Surveys were carried out from 2001 to 2007 to inventory the faunal species. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the status and distribution of the fauna of this region and discuss the significance of the island in the conservation scenario of the biodiversity of the Coromandel Coast. A total of 26 species of mammals, 215 species of birds, 29 species of reptiles, 12 species of amphibians and 53 species of fish were recorded. Some of the noteworthy findings were the occurrence of the grey slender loris Loris lydekkerianus and rusty-spotted cat in the island and a new species of yellow-green cat snake Boiga flaviviridis and the discovery of three unreported heronries in the island, including a large breeding colony of the threatened painted stork (Mycteria leucocephala). The beach on the eastern coast of the island is the nesting ground of the olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea). The main factor responsible for the rich biodiversity of the island, besides due to the variety of habitat types, is the takeover of the island by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the shifting of the human population from the island and the pro-conservation attitude of the authorities. It is suggested that such high-security and disturbed enclaves could play a role in protecting India’s wildlife. However, the development and expansion plans of the spaceport are of concern, and there needs to be a judicious mix of wildlife conservation initiatives with developmental activities in Sriharikota and for other such biodiversity-rich enclaves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Blasco F, Legris P (1973) Dry evergreen forest of Point Calimere and Marakanam. J Bombay Nat Hist Soc 70:279–294
Bombay Natural History Society (1977) Birds of Sriharikota Island. A preliminary survey by the BNHS submitted to ISRO. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai
Champion HG, Seth SK (1968) A revised survey of forest types of India. Government of India Press, New Delhi
Choudhury BC, Pandav B, Tripathy B, Andrews HV (2003) Sea turtle conservation: eco (turtle) friendly coastal development. A GOI–UNDP Project Manual. Centre for Herpetology/Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Mamallapuram
Das I (1996) Biogeography of the reptiles of South Asia. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar
David JP, Murugan BS, Manakadan R (2011) Frugivory by birds and mammals in Sriharikota Island, southern India. J Bombay Nat Hist Soc 108(1):24–40
David JP, Murugan BS, Manakadan R (2012) Seasonality in fruiting of fig and non-fig species in a tropical dry evergreen forest in Sriharikota Island, southern India. Trop Ecol 53(1):1–13
Groves CP (2001) Primate taxonomy. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC
Jackson P (1998) Conserving the smaller cats, 1–4. ENVIS Newsletter (Wildlife & Protected Areas): vol. 1, no. 1. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun
Kannan V, Manakadan S, Sivakumar S, Rao P, Mohapatra KK, Santharam V (2008) The waterbirds of Pulicat Lake, southern India including those in the adjoining wetland and heronries, Nellore district. Andhra Pradesh J Bombay Nat Hist Soc 105(2):162–180
Manakadan R, Sivakumar S (2004a) An ecological account of the faunal diversity of Sriharikota Island and its environs. Final Report: Part I – Birds and Mammals. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai
Manakadan R, Sivakumar S (2004b) An ecological account of the faunal diversity of Sriharikota Island and its environs. Final Report: Part III – Fish. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai
Manakadan R, Sivakumar S (2004c) Sighting of the Water Rail Rallus aquaticus in Sriharikota Island, Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh. Newsl Ornithol 1(1&2):15–16
Manakadan R, Sivakumar S, Rahmani AR (2004) An ecological account of the faunal diversity of Sriharikota Island and its environs. Final Report: Part V: Conservation Issues. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai
Manakadan R, Sivakumar S, David JP, Murugan SP (2008) Investigations into some ecological aspects of Sriharikota Island. Final Report (2004–2007). Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai
Manakadan R, Rao P, Mohapatra KK, Sivakumar S, David JP, Murugan BS, Santharam V (2009a) The land birds of Sriharikota Island, southern India and conservation issues. J Bombay Nat Hist Soc 106(1):15–29
Manakadan R, Rema Devi K, Sivakumar S, Indra TJ (2009b) Fish fauna of the wetlands of Sriharikota Island, southern India and their conservation issues. J Bombay Nat Hist Soc 106(3):313–323
Manakadan R, Sivakumar S, David JP, Murugan BS (2013) The mammals of Sriharikota Island, southern India, with insights into their status, population and distribution. J Bombay Nat Hist Soc 110(2):114–121
Mani S, Parthasarathy N (2009) Tree population and above ground biomass changes in two disturbed tropical dry evergreen forests of peninsular India. Trop Ecol 50:249–258
Meher Homji VM (1997) Biodiversity conservation priorities. Indian J Forest 20(1): 1–7
Mukherjee S (1998) Cats: some large, many small, ENVIS Newsletter (Wildlife & Protected Areas): vol. 1, no. 1. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, pp 5–13
Parthasarathy N, Arthur SM, Udayakumar M (2008) Tropical dry evergreen forests of Peninsular India. Ecology and conservation significance. Trop For Sci 1:89–110
Rao P (1998) The bird communities of the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forests of Sriharikota. Ph.D. thesis, University of Bombay
Reddy PS (1981) The displaced Yanadis of Sriharikota Island. Ph.D. thesis, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati
Roonwal ML, Mohnot SM (1977) Primates of South Asia: ecology, sociobiology and behaviour. Harvard University Press, London
Samant JS, Rao P (1996) An ecological investigation of the avian community of Sriharikota Island. Final report. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay
Sanyal DP, Dattagupta B, Gayen NC (1993) Fauna of Andhra Pradesh. Part-I, Reptilia. Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta
Shanker K, Pandav B, Choudhury BC (2003) Sea turtle conservation: population census and monitoring. A GOI – UNDP Project Manual. Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Mamallapuram
Sivakumar S, Manakadan R (2004) An ecological account of the faunal diversity of Sriharikota Island and its environs. Final report: part II – herpetofauna. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai
Sivakumar S, Kailasanathar R, Manakadan R (2004) An ecological account of faunal diversity of Sriharikota Island and its environs. Final Report: Part 1V- Butterflies. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai
Sivakumar S, Manakadan R (2005) An account of the heronries and other breeding waterbirds of Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, India. Proceedings of the National Seminar on Bird Ecology and Conservation. NLBW and INCERT, Bangalore, pp 93–96
Sivakumar S, Manakadan R (2007) Record of Boiga beddomei (Wall 1909) from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. India J Bombay Nat Hist Soc 104(1):103–104
Sivakumar S, Manakadan R (2008) Ecology of the slender loris Loris lydekkerianus (Cabrera) with special reference to vegetation types. In: Investigations into some ecological aspects of Sriharikota Island. Final Report (2004–2007). Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, pp 53–63
Sivakumar S, Manakadan R (2010) Wildlife mortality from vehicular traffic in Sriharikota Island, southern India. J Bombay Nat Hist Soc 107(1):53–55
Sivakumar S, Manakadan R, David P (2011) Nesting surveys of Olive Ridley Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) along the beaches of Sriharikota Island, Andhra Pradesh, India. Indian Ocean Turtle News Lett 14:12–14. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India
Subramanya S (2001) Heronries of Andhra Pradesh. Mayura 13:1–27
Suryanarayana B, Rao AS, Rao AM, Veeraraju V (1989) Report on the flora of Sriharikota Island, vol 2. Visvodaya Government College, Venkatagiri and SHAR Centre, Sriharikota
Suryanarayana B, Rao AS, Rao AM, Veeraraju V (1998) Flora of Sriharikota Island. Technical Report: ISRO-SHAR-TR-99-98. Indian Space Research Organisation, Bangalore
Vogel G, Ganesh SR (2013) A new species of cat snake (Reptilia: Serpentes: Colubridae: Boiga) from dry forests of eastern Peninsular India. Zootaxa 3637:158–168
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the authorities in the Indian Space Research Organisation, Bangalore, for sanctioning the projects and granting permission to undertake the project in Sriharikota. Special thanks to Mr. R. B. Singh, former Head, Conservation and Landscaping Division (C & LD); Dr. Rabbani, present Head (C & LD); Mr. Srinivasulu Reddy (Scientist G); and Mr. Amitav Mohanty (Scientist F) for providing logistics and support at Sriharikota. We thank the resourceful Yanadi tribal assistant Manikala Parandamaiah for helping us in the fieldwork.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
David, J.P., Manakadan, R., Sivakumar, S. (2018). An Overview of the Vertebrate Diversity of Sriharikota (India’s Spaceport), Southern India: Conservation Perspectives. In: Sivaperuman, C., Venkataraman, K. (eds) Indian Hotspots . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6605-4_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6605-4_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-6604-7
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-6605-4
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)